Shaun Deeb went into this Sunday's grind session seeking a 10th career COOP title and his fifth overall win in WCOOP. The universe's greatest COOP warrior had shipped a record-tying fourth WCOOP crown at the start of the 2016 WCOOP. Deeb was looking for a second title this year and all he had to do was fade a modest field of 247 runners in a NL Single Draw 2-7 Players' Choice event. At the end of Day 1, only 14 players were left in the hunt for the Players' Choice title. Deeb bagged up the most chips after building up a substantial lead late into the night. On Day 2, Deeb went all the way to the final table, but he was upended in fourth place. Deeb got denied his fifth WCOOP and he'll have to wait another day to win his 10th overall COOP.

Meanwhile, Poland's __akun333___ got heads-up in Event #50 and was seeking a third overall COOP win and second-career WCOOP title. Ukraine's grailbrdss had other plans. After a plodding heads-up match dominated by small ball, the two rumbled and the results were fatal. grailbrdss delivered a knockout blow in the prog-knockout Deuce to Seven event to become the newest WCOOP champion.

The Players' Choice Event #2, or WCOOP Event #50, ended up $215 NL Single Draw 2-7 Progressive Knockout. This second Players' Choice on the docket drew in 247 players. They created a prize pool worth $49,400, which nearly doubled the $25K Guarantee. Half of the pool, or $24,700, went to the bounty pool and the other half went to the regular prize pool. The top 29 places paid out with $4,761.24 set aside to the champ.

The Players Choice was another two-day event. Only 14 made the cut at the end of the first day. Brisk pace to start Day 2. LgwZ busted on the first hand in 14th place and SirWatts went out on the next hand in 13th place.

By the time eight players remained, Shaun Deeb's still led but his overall advantage had shrunk. He sat atop a 620K stack, but 2-time COOP champ __akun333___ was not far behind with 500K. Action went hand-for-hand with eight to go. namazu66 bubbled off the final table in eighth place when 6♠6♥5♦4♥2♥ and a pair of sixes lost to grailbrdss's 9-8-7-5-2 low.

The final table commenced during Level 27 with blinds at 4K/8K and a 2K ante. Shaun Deeb was the big stack and jon011 clung on with the shortie. After winning Event #12, Deeb was looking to win his 5th WCOOP and 10th COOP.

Fireworks on the first hand. POW! Short stack vs. big stack. jon011 open-shoved for 104,880 and Deeb called. Deeb and jon011 both discarded one. At showdown...

shaundeeb: Q♣8♠7♦3♠2♣jon011: 6♣6♦8♣3♣2♦

jon011's pair of sixes lost to Deeb's Q-8-7-3-2 low. Estonia's jon011 became the first player to bust at the final table. Seventh place was worth $864.39.

Deeb added a bounty worth $373.44 to his KO collection for picking off jon011, and his own prog-KO bounty increased to $1,623.42.

NO MEN IN NO MAN'S LAND: jp_legacy eliminated in 6th place

Deeb opened things up with a bet to 20,000, __akun333___ raised to 64,000, jp_legacy bombed it all-in for 355,223, Deeb bailed, and __akun333___ called. Heads-up. jp_legacy discarded a single card and __akun333___ stood pat. At showdown...

jp_legacy: 3♣3♦7♣4♥2♣__akun333___: 8♦7♥5♣4♠2♦

__akun333___ won the pot with an 8-7-5-4-2 low versus a pair of treys. Japan's jp_legacy was knocked out in sixth place, which paid out $1,148.71.

__akun333___ won a KO-bounty worth $187.50 and their own bounty was bumped up to $1,250.

With five remaining, we had a new chipleader. __akun333___ seized the lead with 836K, followed by Deeb's 715K.

THINGS PEOPLE DO: Steppo13 eliminated in 5th place

Five-handed didn't last long before one of the shorties squared off against Deeb. Of course, Deeb instigated with a raise to 25,000, grailbrdss flatted, Steppo13 moved all-in for 70,004, Deeb re-shoved for 449,028, grailbrdss folded. Heads-up. Steppo13 discarded one, while Deeb stood pat. At showdown...

Steppo13: T♥9♦4♠3♥A♥shaundeeb: T♦9♥8♠6♣5♥

Deeb won with a 10-9-8-6-5 low against Steppo13's Ace-10-9-4-3 low. Steppo13 was dunzo in fifth place. The German won $1,526.54.

Deeb picked up another bounty, this one was worth $223.44 for knocking out Steppo13. Deeb's own bounty ballooned to $1,846.85.

With four to go, __akun333___ led with 975K and was closing in on 1M, while Deeb was second with 556K, followed by grailbrdss 480K and KinderOvo76's 457K.

4th place for Deeb

BLAZE ON: Shaun Deeb eliminated in 4th place

Shaun Deeb's front running stack had incurred some damage and he was fighting to stay alive with meager holdings. He got involved in a spat with grailbrdss that cost him his tournament life. grailbrdss opened to 30,000, Deeb bombed it all-in for 216,088, and grailbrdss called. Deeb stood pat, while grailbrdss drew one card. At showdown...

shaundeeb: T♣9♦7♥5♦3♦grailbrdss: T♠9♥4♠3♣2♥

Deeb got edged out with a 10-9-7-5-3 vs his 10-9-4-3-2. grailbrdss won the pot and picked up Deeb's bounty worth $923.43. His own bounty increased by the same amount to $1,704.67.

For a fourth-place finish, Shaun Deeb won $2,028.66, plus $1,846.85 in bounties. Deeb would have to wait another day to win his fifth WCOOP and his tenth COOP title.

With three to go, grailbrdss led with 1M, followed by __akun333___'s 901K and KinderOvo76's 533K.

RUNNING OUT OF TIME: KinderOvo76 eliminated in 3rd place

Three-handed went quick. grailbrdss opened to 35,000, KinderOvo76 moved all-in for 125,923, and grailbrdss called. KinderOvo76 stood pat, while grailbrdss only drew one card. At showdown...

KinderOvo76: T♣9♠4♣3♠2♥grailbrdss: T♠8♠4♥3♦2♦

grailbrdss won the pot with a 10-8-4-3-2 low vs. KinderOvo76's 10-9-4-3-2 low. Brazil's KinderOvo76 was knocked out in third place, which paid out $2,695.93.

grailbrdss collected a bounty worth $485.94 for busting KinderOvo76, and their own bounty jumped to $2,190.60.

Ukraine vs. Poland in the finals. grailbrdss held nearly a 2-1 edge. The first hour of heads up was dominated by small ball. With the blinds rather low, they kept the pots rather small. grailbrdss coughed up the lead and __akun333___ built up a stack to turn the tides.

DEAL

The final two decided to chop up the money and they had to leave 2% of the prize money on the table for first place.

Approximately one hour into heads up, we saw the largest pot of the tournament. grailbrdss seized the lead in 1.5M pot. __akun333___ 4-bet shoved and grailbrdss called all-in for 619,708. grailbrdss stood pat with 8-7-5-4-3 low and __akun333___ drew one. At showdown, __akun333___ lost with 9-6-5-4-2. After losing that hand __akun333___ was on the ropes and never recovered.

Poland's __akun333___ was denied a second WCOOP crown. Going into the final hand, __akun333___ trailed nearly 5-1 or 2.05M to 410K. grailbrdss opened to 60,000, __akun333___ moved all-in for 404,584 and grailbrdss called. __akun333___ stood pat, but grailbrdss discarded one. At showdown...

__akun333___: T♥9♥6♠4♠3♦grailbrdss: 9♦8♣5♥4♦3♥

grailbrdss won the pot with a 9-8-5-4-3 low against __akun333___'s pat hand of 10-9-6-4-3. grailbrdss added one last bounty worth $625 for busting __akun333___.

For a second-place finish, __akun333___ earned $3,902.55. Overall, __akun333___took home $1,250 in bounties.

Ukraine's grailbrdss won $4,441.37 for first place, plus $2,815.60 in bounties for a total score worth $7,256.97.